SJDR - Kevin McElvaine - Washington State Race Chasing

Kevin McElvaine
Washington State
Race Chasing

09/18/06

WASHINGTON STATE RACE-CHASING PT.II
by Kevin McElvaine

For those who are fans of full fendered auto racing on asphalt, Evergreen Speedway in Monroe, WA is the place to be in the Pacific NW. Located about 45 minutes North of Seattle & just minutes from downtown Monroe, this speedway has 4 different racetracks in operation

There is a 5/8 mile track that is used only for special events. I haven't been to Indianapolis Raceway Park in person, but the biggest track at Evergreen looks to be the same size and shape. The 3/8 mile track is used for the regular weekly races, while the 1/4 mile oval and Figure 8 tracks are used for the smaller 4 cylinder class and the two figure Eight classes. (of course). The 5/8 track is used as a pit area on regular shows. There is a Sprint car race scheduled in Late March for the 5/8 mile track and I cannot wait to get up there to see that!

There is always something going on at this speed plant and while I didn't take the time to look over their 2006 schedule, their 2005 season started in early March and didn't end until October 1.

Being a NASCAR track, one problem I had with the place is all of their classes looked alike or were very similar looking. On the 2 nights I attended they ran Super Stocks, (think LMs) Bombers, (think Late 70s LMs) 4 cylinder stocks. Legends and two separate Figure 8 stock car classes. With the exception of a figure 8 class, I don't recall any class actually having a full field.

One feature I just LOVED is that with the exception of the Super Stocks, they run all classes in the rain so there is never a rain out.
All classes except the Super Stocks run grooved tires so this is possible. The idea works. If you look at the attached photos the photo I shot of the covered stands was taken on a rainy night. How many tracks can you think of that cant draw a crowd like that on a nice night?

They do have a lot of gimmick races during the season One night when I was there they had Camper races which is more of a demo derby with junk camper trailers towed by each car. Also scheduled are boat races, (same idea with junk boats being towed) They also have school bus races and motorcycle thrill shows. something for everyone

Fans are allowed to bring food in, but as is the case with all speedways in Washington, you cant BYOB. It is sold there though. The novelty stand was nothing but NASCAR junk like one would find at any Wal-mart. The did sell Evergreen Speedway shirts and hats however. No local drivers sold shirts.

Evergreen Speedway has had quite a number of well known drivers sign in at their pit shack. Bill Elliott, Ernie Irvan, Greg Biffle, Geoff Bodine, Chad Little, Harry Gant, Ken Schrader and Tom Sneva are just some of the drivers who have turned laps here. Pretty impressive for a track so far North that it is almost a Canadian race track. Craftsman Trucks raced here back in the late 1990s

I cannot recall how much it cost to get in, but I believe it was around $12. Not bad for what I saw.

The announcers were just annoying and not at all informative. The lights were outdated and/or poorly aimed.

The Super Stocks were nice looking and just flew around the track. Would love to see them on the larger track one day. Would love to see more than 16 sign in too.

The track is located on the Evergreen State Fairgrounds, and there's always something non-racing related going on there too. Once there was a dog show when I was in attendance. Nice to watch while waiting for the races to start.

The track has been hosting auto racing since 1954 and Id guess they will continue for many many years. Stock cars on asphalt is not exactly my cup of tea, but if thats your preference then you would probably enjoy a visit here. Their website is www.evergreenspeedway.com.

Next stop.....Grays Harbor Raceway. Sprints on dirt. Now we're talkin'!

Evergreen Speedway in Monroe, Washington Photos

WASHINGTON STATE RACECHASING
by Kevin McElvaine

Greetings one and all from not-so-sunny Washington State.
After spending all but 5 years of my life living in New Jersey, I re-located to the Pacific Northwest in January 2005. While moving cross country is full of ups and downs, one great thing about such an endeavor is that a motorsports nut like me has the chance to see races at a whole new batch of tracks I have never visited before.

Towards the end of the 2005 racing season I came up with the idea of doing a series of articles on SJDR about the tracks I had visited. I always enjoyed reading Guy Smith in Area Auto Racing News. I love reading about tracks I will probably never be able to see in person. Matter of fact Roaming the Raceways was usually the first column I turned to when the paper would arrive.
Sorry Ernie.

Fortunately the movers and shakers at SJDR thought this was a good idea too when I mentioned the idea. So that is how I ended up doing this. I hope all who read it enjoy it. Today we'll pay a visit to Yakima, Washington and the Central Washington State Fair Raceway.

The Central Washington State Fair Raceway is a 3/8 mile dirt oval in the middle of the city of Yakima which is about 140 miles SE of Seattle. They have raced for the past few seasons ran on Friday nights. I was only at this track once so I don't know too much about this track, but from what I could find online they raced IMCA type modifeds, Stock Cars (think Hobby stocks) and Hornets in 2005. The Hornets are a class I had never heard of before moving out here. But they are completely stock four cylinder cars like Ford Escorts and Chevy Cavaliers. One rule in this class that is enforced at every track is that all Hornet cars must be painted yellow. These are literally $75 race cars and they are treated like one would treat any $75 car. I have read that they have also hosted full Late Models and midgets here. This track is unique in that there is a separate and totally unrelated speedway directly across the street, the 1/2 mile asphalt Yakima Speedway.

Up until about ten years ago there was no auto racing at the fairgrounds oval. It was used only for horse races I haven't been able to figure out when, but sometime in the mid 1990's Fred Brownfield (there's that name again) convinced the fair board to let him re-configure the race track for use as an auto race track instead of a horse track. Fred is apparently public enemy #1 among the horse crowd out here as he has done this to a couple horse tracks in Washington. Bad for them, good for us!

It has been run with varying degrees of success under a few different promoters since then and as of this time they have no schedule yet for the 2006 season.

My only visit so far to this track was during the Central Washington State Fair to see the Northern Sprint Tour run on the 2nd night of their two day show during the fair. This race had that old fashioned fair feel to it from the moment I set foot on the grounds. Behind the covered grandstands one could walk up the fair midway and right off of turn 4 was all the usual carnival rides. I must say it was a pretty good day.

The races were free with the $10 fair admission. The covered stands are much larger than the one that was at Flemington. I never attended Reading but these looked as large as those covered stands did in the pictures. Any track with covered stands is OK in my book. Visibility was pretty good from wherever you sit, but for a while I had to stand along the front of the stands and it wasn't as good.

Since the races didn't have an additional charge, some of those in attendance had just wandered in to see what all the noise was. I watched with a gentleman next to me for a while who had never been to a race and had no idea what a sprint car was. It was a lot of fun to see the look on this guy's face the first time a dozen sprints came by at full speed less than 30 feet away from him!

I don't recall the exact number but over 40 sprint car teams from Washington, Oregon, California and Canada showed up to race
on this night. As is too frequent out here they ran time trials to set up the line up. The A-main was led by the pole sitter Roger Crockett for 36 of the 40 laps. Crocketts left rear tire gave up and made the last 4 laps far better than the first 36. I don't know the names of all the drivers out here yet, but the last 4 laps were a total brawl for the win. Good stuff.

There is obviously more than one groove at this track as 3rd place was taken by Henry van Dam of Enumclaw who had to run the B-main and started dead last in the A-main. The track held up well and dust wasn't too bad even with the late afternoon start.

I would guess they're going to have some races at this track this year as there's a lot of cars and drivers in this part of the state.
But since its already February and they don't have a schedule or promoter yet, maybe they wont. That would be a shame since while its not the prettiest speedway, its a good size track and I saw some pretty good racing on my visit.

Next stop...Evergreen Speedway. Special thanks to my good friend Mike Lozensky of http://www.mlpsprints.com/ for help on some background info on the Central Washington Fair Raceway.

Central Washington State Fairgrounds Photos